Some 400 ‘for sale’ signs dot the yards and windows of condos across the Queen City.
Realtors say the vast majority will sell within months, but a new national survey says the price tags are taking a major hit.
“Let’s just pick a number, say, $300,000. You have to sell it and it’s gone down 15-20%. You have to sell it now for $240,000,” realtor Craig Adam explained. “That’s a significant hit, especially for first-time home buyers.”
From January 1 to April 17, 2018, 104 condos were sold in Regina for a median price of $230,000.
In the same time period in 2017, there were 115 sales averaging $265-270,000.
Real estate lawyer Brandon Hicks expected to see some decline, but was surprised by the steep drop.
“I think it’s largely because of oversupply in the market,” Hicks said. “There was a significant boom and a run up from the 2014-2016 range, and now the market seems to have slowed down and we’re looking at an oversupply.”
Royal LePage’s annual house price survey came to the same conclusion.
“There were government incentives to create new rental stock, and as a result, many new builds went up and prices started to come down,” broker Mike Duggleby said. “Sales of condos continue to occur but because there is so much inventory, it will take a few years for supply to be absorbed by demand.”
Still, for every sale sign, there seems to be another condo construction zone scattered around the city.
“People are always wondering why they’re still building them when there’s so much inventory. One of the main reasons for that is that builders still have the ability to make money with condos. The margins are still good,” Adam noted.
Despite a tough sellers market when it comes to condos, experts anticipate more stable prices in the coming years thanks to growing population and an uptick in the economy.
Hicks would also like to see more building regulations and conversations with local government, in hopes of breaking the boom-and-bust cycle.
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